Yang Jingyu - Background

Background

Yang joined the Chinese Communist Youth League in his home town in 1926, and joined the Communist Party of China in 1927. After the Autumn Harvest Uprising he organized local farmers in Queshan into a Revolutionary Armed Force unit. Later he did other underground work in Kaifeng and Luoyang.

In 1929, he was sent to northeast China, where he held the post of Communist Party of China Fushun special branch secretary. Imprisoned by the regime of Zhang Xueliang, he was rescued during the chaos following the Mukden Incident. After the rescue from prison, he successively held the offices of Harbin district party committee secretary, municipal party committee secretary, and Manchurian Acting provincial party committee secretary of the Central Military Commission.

In 1932, he set up the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army 32nd Army as a guerrilla force, and Panshi in Jilin province as his guerrilla base.

In September, 1933 he was appointed commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Independent Division of the First Army of the Northeastern People's Revolutionary Army. In 1934, the Independent Division became the First Army of the Northeast People's Revolutionary Army, with Yang as commander-in-chief of the army and the Anti-Japanese United Front Army Headquarters.

In February 1936, Yang was appointed Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army First Army commander and political commissar, in June he was appointed Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army First Route Army commander-in-chief concurrently political commissar. Zhou Baozhong commanded the 2nd Route Army, and Li Zhaolin the 3rd Route Army. This army was open to all who wanted to resist the Japanese invasion and proclaimed its willingness to ally with all other anti-Japanese forces. This policy won over some of the shanlin bands, including former National Salvation Army units. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident a number of Manchukuoan troops deserted to the Anti-Japanese Army.